More bad luck with strut rods and bushings

[375instroke]

Rebuilt this front end, '69 383 Charger, last Summer, and I already blew out a strut rod bushing.  These were the Moog "Improved Design" K7026, which have been discontinued.  Gee, wonder why?  What is going on here?  Not even one year?  In comparison, my other car lasted four years before it cracked the K-Frame.








And here's the R/T that I used poly strut rod bushings on.

[charger Downunder]

Looks like you will have to sort out how to support the engine and then remove the k  frame. I had those bushes and the metal part of the bush cracked and would go click click after hard braking just when the car surged back. Took them out and went back to full rubber. That crack is bad lucky you found it.

[375instroke]

That's what I did last Summer.  Good thing I picked up two extra sets of those bushings since they're nowhere now, but why would they fail so soon?

[Canadian1968]

There seems to be a lot of stress being put on those strut rods.  That crack is very weird.  Are u sure K frame isn't rotting from the inside out ?

Your strut rods are not bent at all ?  Did you follow the proper tighten sequence ?  The rest of your suspension is in good shape ? Mainly your lower ball joints.

When was the last time you had alignment  checked ?

[b5blue]

  Worn bushings and/or loose ball joints add to the stresses to the strut rods and bushings see. Remember this system was engineered to be just normal 60's driver and last about 8 years. I could tell the last time I replaced the bushings big tires and big rotor disks may be adding stress so I installed Hotchkis solid mount struts.
https://www.hotchkis.net/product/67-70-dodge-b-and-e-body-adjustable-strut-rods-from-hotchkis-sport-suspension/
   The cracked subframe indicated a lot of stress, check your LCA bushings.

[375instroke]

There seems to be a lot of stress being put on those strut rods.  That crack is very weird.  Are u sure K frame isn't rotting from the inside out ?

Your strut rods are not bent at all ?  Did you follow the proper tighten sequence ?  The rest of your suspension is in good shape ? Mainly your lower ball joints.

When was the last time you had alignment  checked ?

  Worn bushings and/or loose ball joints add to the stresses to the strut rods and bushings see. Remember this system was engineered to be just normal 60's driver and last about 8 years. I could tell the last time I replaced the bushings big tires and big rotor disks may be adding stress so I installed Hotchkis solid mount struts.
https://www.hotchkis.net/product/67-70-dodge-b-and-e-body-adjustable-strut-rods-from-hotchkis-sport-suspension/
   The cracked subframe indicated a lot of stress, check your LCA bushings.

The split bushing is on my Cordovan Charger, which I've been driving till I fix the black R/T.  I put a '70 K-Frame on it, triangulated the steering box, and reinforced the LCA and strut rod mounts. It was blasted and painted, with no damage found, and corrosion was limited to a few cosmetic pits here and there.  Strut rods not bent.  Loose installed components and torqued with weight on ground.  All wear parts were new, 1.06" torsion bars, QA1 upper and lower control arms, QA1 shocks, Moog ball joints and 11/16" tie rod ends, Proforged quick ratio idler and pitman arms, Firm Feel sway bar, poly bushings only on the upper control arm and sway bar, late '70s slider disc brakes.

The K-Frame with the crack is on the black R/T, which was installed in 2017.  I blasted it and painted it.  It was in perfect condition then. All the wear parts were replaced, and late '70s slider disc brakes installed, 1.04" torsions, QA1 shocks, Firm Feel sway bar, new bushings, tie rods, ball joints. I used polyurethane bushings on the strut rods.
The alignment's good on both cars.

[b5blue]

Well darn it looks like you covered all your bases.  My stuff is all stock with Moog (rubber) parts.

[Nacho-RT74]

rubber strut bushings can't be combined with LCA poly ( or teflon or any other diff than rubber ) bushings. If you are using rubber strut bushings will need Rubber LCA bushings.

Reason: Poly LCA bushing doesn't get friction with inner and outer shells like rubber, soooooo will slide in and out the LCA easier. The strut rod function is save from that, but the rubber strut rod won't hold that pressure.

I also learnt it on the same way

[375instroke]

rubber strut bushings can't be combined with LCA poly ( or teflon or any other diff than rubber ) bushings. If you are using rubber strut bushings will need Rubber LCA bushings.

Both cars have rubber LCA bushings.